Anatomy of a Model Program Promo Video

One of the most popular strategies used by senior portrait photographers to get their word out is to use a “model” rep program. This is where you encourage your teen clients to be your evangelists at school and other programs. Some studios call it a “street” program. Whatever you call it, when used effectively, it can be a big boost for your business.

The Power of Video

Video is by far the most powerful tool you can use to promote your studio. We plan to offer posts and tutorials on how you can make your videos really stand out and be used effectively in your marketing. I wanted to share a quick break down of the promo video we created to promote our model program. Comments about the video are below.

Key aspects of this video:

It’s short (less than 2.5 minutes)

Shows girls having fun

You hear from the girls what the experience was like

Fun, upbeat music

You get an idea of what it’s like to work with the photographer

URL at the end

This particular video was shot with a traditional HD camcorder, but you can do the same with our HDSLR. (Although, I wouldn’t likely have the quick zooms I have here if I shot this with a DSLR).

Distribution

You’ll notice this is a YouTube video. Blip.tv and Vimeo are also popular video sharing sites. We use all three, and so should you. The more places you can put your video, the better. Blip.tv is great if you want a video podcast that people can download into iTunes. We have a Teen Identity iTunes channel that we use for all of our model videos. Girls can subscribe to it to download our latest and greatest.

If you have any questions about the video or distribution, feel free to place them in the comments section below. I’ll reply to them as quickly as possible, and then everyone will have the benefit of the answer.